Having settled the cooperation with Medusa, the two ended their call.
Zhao Chen looked around at Charlotte and the others; not one of them spoke.
"Well? Aren't you the least bit curious why I'd work with the Snake-folk?"
Charlotte said mildly, "I only handle the fighting."
Shen Bing said, "I'm merely your subordinate now; naturally I obey your orders without condition."
Zhao Wan'er rolled her eyes and said, "You come out no worse off anyway, and get 500 warships' support for free. You were going to deal with the Fire Salamander coalition fleet regardless; as for what this Snake-folk queen wants to do, it's really little to do with us. If it goes as she says, so much the better. And if some problem crops up midway, at worst you tear faces — you still come out no worse off."
Zhao Chen nodded with a smile; what Zhao Wan'er said was exactly his own thinking. If the Snake-folk truly cooperated with him, then he could just use it to build up connections in the Reef Star Region. And if the other side meant to become a second Fire Salamander clan, Zhao Chen wouldn't mind letting that queen taste the flavor of defeat. Come to think of it, that highly aggressive gaze of hers rather kindled a certain urge to conquer.
"Charlotte, go make your preparations. See that every warship is in the finest state of readiness. After all, what we face this time is 10 T3 warships; we can't take it lightly," Zhao Chen said gravely.
"Yes."
Zhao Chen's Owl Dragon Fleet began entering its war-footing; the T2 Lion King-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Ships about to roll off the line were readied as well, to join the battle formation straight from the line!
Seizing the interval, Zhao Chen opened the System page. He'd been on the move the whole way and hadn't had time to look at the refreshed quarterly mission.
Quarterly Mission: Redeem one T3 warship technical blueprint from the System Mall.
Number of combat-type warships to reach thirty (17/30).
The requirement of 30 combat warships — with the capacity of the T2 Iron Hammer-class Heavy Interstellar Industrial Ships Zhao Chen now had, completing it was no problem. The first — redeeming a T3 warship from the System Mall — was of some slight difficulty. Redeeming a T3 warship cost no small number of system points, and after redeeming the T3 Radiant Moon-class Star Gate earlier, Zhao Chen had few system points left, nowhere near enough to redeem a T3-grade warship. He'd have to find a way to scrape up some system points.
System task triggered: The Battle Against the Fire Salamander Coalition.
Difficulty: B+
Content: In this battle, complete the following metrics; the final reward is granted according to completion rate. If completion falls below 60%, the task fails.
Metric One: Destroy enemy ships to certain counts, each earning 5% completion (500 ships, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500, 3,000).
Metric Two: Destroy the enemy fleet's T3 warships — 5% completion for each.
Metric Three: Kill the enemy fleet's key figures, each earning 5% completion (Han Tianwang, Zhang Haoran, the Fire Salamander chieftain, the Black Boar-folk chief, the Cerberus Interstellar Pirate Company boss, the Gebo clan chief).
This suddenly appearing system task was within Zhao Chen's expectations. Where there was a "good show," there was bound to be the System's shadow. But two of the target figures in the system task took Zhao Chen somewhat by surprise.
Han Tianwang? Zhang Haoran?
Seeing these two names, Zhao Chen was stunned for a good few seconds before it registered. Weren't these the two moneybags who'd once "treated him to a meal"?
"The Fire Salamander clan actually has ties to them? They'd actually turn up in the Reef Star Region?" Zhao Chen was somewhat surprised; he suspected now — the reason the other side had mobilized so many warships to attack him, could it have to do with Han Tianwang and Zhang Haoran?
"This is starting to get interesting…" Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes.
Medusa had spoken earlier of a power from the Starlight Empire behind the Fire Salamander clan and those interstellar powers — the Cerberus Interstellar Pirate Company above all was a puppet that power had propped up. Just what power it was, Medusa didn't quite know either; only that it came from the Starlight Empire, and its standing should be no low one. That other side had made no few moves in the Reef Star Region of late. Some months ago it had even attacked the fleet Medusa was with — but because the action was covert, and because Medusa herself made no noise of it, no one outside knew. Yet how could Medusa let it rest? This time, having caught a chance for revenge with no small effort, she'd seized the moment to put her cooperation proposal to Zhao Chen.
Zhao Chen studied this system task carefully. Each completed metric earned 5% completion. Which was to say, he needed to complete at least 12 to reach the 60% completion rate. There were 10 T3 warships, six metrics for enemy ships destroyed, and six figure-targets. At most he could complete 22!
"Since you court your own death, don't blame me." A killing intent showed in Zhao Chen's eyes.
Three days later.
Over 3,000 warships, in a mighty host, crossed the Lion King System's star gate into the Lion King System. This was likely the first time so vast a combat fleet had appeared in the Lion King System! With 10 T3 warships among them, no less!
In the gate control room, the manager gazed at the array before him; though he'd received the relevant notice long since, seeing it with his own eyes left him rather dumbstruck.
"Good grief… even the Cerberus Interstellar Pirate Company's fleet has turned up!" his companion cried out beside him.
The manager recalled the orders handed down from above: business as usual, but deploy unmanned recon drones to record the battlefield, and report any intelligence the instant it came. On no account interfere in the battle!
"Sir, do you think that Lion King Fleet can still win this time?" his companion asked.
"What you shouldn't ask, don't ask — just do your own job well!" the manager said, low. His instincts already told him this interstellar battle was anything but ordinary. It might even affect the whole situation of the Reef Star Region! He watched the 3,000-odd warships fade slowly into the distance out in the black — and quietly sent off a message on a private channel.
About a dozen-odd minutes after this 3,000-odd-ship fleet departed, the gate received a request for passage from another 500 warships.
"How is it another 500 warships? The Lion King System's far too lively today. In past years, a whole year's worth of combat warships might not come to today's number," his companion muttered in puzzlement.
The manager watched the 500 warships cross through the gate. On these ships' hulls was a nine-headed-snake emblem.
The Snake-folk's warships had arrived!